Bidirectionality in preschool children’s executive functions and language skills: Is one developing skill the better predictor of the other?

Executive functions and language skills play a critical role for children’s school readiness. The present study examined reciprocal relations between these two sets of skills among three-to-four-year-old children attending German preschools (N = 227). Multiple tasks assessed executive functions and language skills twice over the one-year study period. Data was analyzed in a cross-lagged model with latent constructs. Findings provided support for...